


Infatuation

by flowercrownliam



Category: Larry - Fandom, One Direction (Band), ziam - Fandom
Genre: Adults, Future, M/M, School, Teachers, larry - Freeform, old, ziam
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-18
Updated: 2015-06-06
Packaged: 2018-03-08 03:59:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3194513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flowercrownliam/pseuds/flowercrownliam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam Payne is a 34 year old graphic design teacher at a city high school. His best friends Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan and his scruffy dog Bruce are the only things he has in life... until English teacher Zayn Malik strolls into school one day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

A stained coffee cup balanced precariously on top of a pile of students' work; coursework, to be exact. Technical drawings for a model they were currently developing in wood-tech class. The Christmas holidays were starting the next day and work had to be handed in at the end of January. Mr Payne sat at his desk, staring at the current student's sketchbook laid out in front of him, a red pen balanced in his hand. He was determined to get all the work marked before the end of the day but the more books he looked through, the more and more he wished the clock he constantly kept glancing up at would fall off the wall and bounce on his head, knocking him out. It would probably be less painful than trying to make sense of the lowest ability class' work.

He sighed and slumped forward in his chair, taking his glasses off before resting his head on the desk. Just at that moment there was a knock at the door and Mr Tomlinson sauntered into the room.

"Well, Liam doesn't look happy..." Mr Tomlinson said as he placed himself down on the desk opposite Mr Payne.

"Louis, I can't take this anymore," Liam sighed melodramatically, "some of these kids actually have massive potential but they just... they're so lazy." Liam dropped his head back down on the desk and groaned loudly. Louis shook his head.

"Honestly Liam, you need to learn," Louis started as he picked up the sketchbook and observed the student’s name, "Samuel Denny? Really Liam? This kid would never pass a single subject. He asked me the other day if Shakespeare was a rapper. A rapper! I swear to God..." Louis put the sketchbook back down before crossing his arms and staring at a mopey faced Liam Payne.

"Yeah, but you teach drama, all they have to do is pretend to be happy or sad or whatever and they get an A*." Liam said, smiling jokingly as he pushed Louis' buttons.

"Don't start this shit with me again," Louis said as he lightly punched Liam on the arm, "Now I came in here actually to get you to come get food with me. I want to get into the canteen before all the vultures came flapping and screaming in." By vultures Louis meant students. Liam sometimes questioned why Louis became a teacher as he sometimes did show a rather large repulse for children. He took a last swig of mildly warm coffee and placed his glasses back on before following Louis to the canteen.

Tray in hand, mediocre coffee in the other, Louis and Liam placed themselves at a table far away from the rest of the canteen. A few other teachers had already had the same idea as them and got their lunch early. Soon enough Louis and Liam were joined by a bouncy, blonde young teacher who sat down opposite them.

“Alright lads?” he asked as he poured ketchup all over his chips. Thank God for Friday, Liam thought to himself; Fridays meant chip day, and Liam admittedly loved a greasy plate of school chips.

“Alright Niall? Glad it’s the last day of term.” Louis said as he took a bite out of an apple. He’d sworn to himself that he’d keep on a diet up until Christmas day when all hell let loose with shit loads of food; although that didn’t stop him from nicking a few chips off of Niall’s plate.

“Same, all my students are preparing their music pieces over Christmas holidays, I can’t wait to hear them.” Niall said in between mouthfuls of chips. Niall Horan was the music teacher at the school who had recently started this September, and already he was one of the most enthusiastic teachers that all the students loved. You could hardly blame them, after all Niall seemed to be bit of a kid himself.

“All you have to do is listen to kids, I have to write and write and write…” Liam complained as he sipped his coffee.

“Liam, I’m going to try and say this as nicely as possible,” Louis started with an ironic tone, “but can you please shut the fuck up and stop slagging off other subjects?” Liam shook his head and laughed to himself.

“Sorry. It’s been a long day.”

“Don’t worry. We’ve got the pub tonight still, have we not?” Louis said, finally reaching over to Niall’s plate and swiping a few chips.

“We have indeed. Been looking forward to it all week." Niall said. Liam nodded excitedly in agreement.

"Honestly can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to a nice, cold pint. Would really brighten this day up." Liam said as he shovelled chips into his mouth.

Soon the bell rang and the canteen quickly flooded full with students desperate to get food before the queues became hideously long. Lucky for the teachers if they were late though, as they could skip the queue. Liam watched as kids groaned under their breaths as teachers pushed past and got their lunch before them, despite arriving later. Liam chuckled to himself, continuing to eat his chips.

"Well that's new." Louis said, and Liam followed Louis' direction of sight to see a tall, dark haired teacher who he did not recognise making his way into the canteen.

He turned around, his back no longer facing the other way, and Liam's breath caught in his throat. His hair was a stylised mess, one that looked as if it was bed hair but perfected in a way to look smart. He wore a black, velvet blazer with a black shirt and black skinny chinos, finishing it off with a pair of brown brogues. Damn, this lad liked wearing black. Not that Liam was complaining, he could happily stare at this intense, unknown human being. And he would've continued to if it hadn't been for the fact he choked on a chip as he gasped.

"Are you okay there, need a pat on the back?" Louis said sarcastically.

"I'm fine." Liam managed to choke out, gathering himself.

"Good, because good looking is walking this way."

"What?" Liam exclaimed, just as it was too late to ask any questions.

"Hi." Liam's heart flipped at the sound of the mysterious teacher's voice. He stood at the edge of the table, nervously biting his lip as he looked down from his feet to Niall who was smiling.

"Hi! Come sit with us." Niall said as he patted the seat next to him. Liam and Louis gave each other a small glance of confusion as the teacher warily sat down.

"Sorry, meant to say. This is Zayn Malik, the new English teacher. We met at break.” Niall said as he introduced him, “This is Louis Tomlinson, he teaches drama, and this is Liam Payne, the graphic designs teacher."

Liam smiled briefly, and Zayn returned it. Fuck it, even his smile was hot. Liam had the sudden realisation he was still wearing his glasses and quickly took them off his face, feeling himself go red. He hated wearing his glasses, but he actually really couldn’t see very well without them. He’d learnt to cope over the years, but with the amount of work he was marking today he had really ought to be wearing them. Louis gave him a sideways look as Liam pocketed his glasses, but only shook his head before continuing to finish his lunch.

“Lemme ask Zayn, why are you starting last day before term ends?” Louis asked questioningly as he held up his apple core at Zayn. He shrugged lightly.

“Mr Brown said before he retired he wanted to ‘settle me in’ and show me where stuff was. But quite honestly, I’m gonna move a hell of a lot of stuff and throw some stuff out. Some of those copies of books haven’t been changed since 1985, and that’s no exaggeration.” Louis and Niall laughed and Liam smirked to himself. Hot, smart and funny… this was becoming a little too much for Liam.

“Yup, sounds like Mr Brown alright. He’s a bit of dinosaur when it comes down to it, in artifacts and mind.” Louis replied. Louis had spent many lunch times discussing many plays with Mr Herbert Brown whenever he came round to putting on his annual summer production, and it usually ended up in Louis traipsing into Liam’s classroom, a dead look on his face and handfuls of torn and tattered scripts which seemed way past a pristine, or even readable, condition.

“What time do you want to meet tonight?” Niall asked as he looked between Liam and Louis. Fuck, why was he bringing this up now in front of Zayn? Liam clenched his hands under the table. What if Niall invited Zayn. Wait, why was he panicking? He’d known the guy less than five minutes. Liam was over-reacting. Liam was being completely unreasonable. And yet that still didn’t stop his palms from sweating as he wiped them on his suit trousers.

“I’m staying afterwards for an hour to finish sorting out some new play texts I got in, so I should say 5pm. I’m pretty sure Liam will be staying behind to.” Louis replied as he patted Liam on the back. He nodded gently in reply as he took a sip of coffee.

“Awesome. Zayn, fancy joining us for a pint tonight?” Liam choked on his coffee slightly. Louis and Niall raised their eyebrows at him, and Liam cleared his throat as he tried to gather his actions.

“S’hot.” Liam mumbled as he placed his coffee down, although he knew that Louis and Niall both knew very well that the coffee was never more than room temperature, even when first purchased. Of course Niall invited Zayn. Liam could see that coming from a mile off. It still took him slightly by surprise though.

“Well, I would like to get to know some new faces before I start in January…” Zayn started.

“It’s settled then. See you at The Rose and Crown pub at 5pm.” Niall smiled.

“I have to go mark some work.” Liam said abruptly as he stood quickly. Louis followed behind.

 

They walked in silence to their classrooms as they passed several students milling about in the halls. Usually, Liam would tell them to move on, but right now his mind was in another place. He couldn’t understand why he acted the way he did.

Liam went into his classroom, still with Louis following, and sat at his desk, Louis taking his usual place on the desktop opposite him.

“Okay, what the fuck was that.” Louis said finally after Liam had returned to his position of defeat with his head on his desk.

“I don’t know.” Liam mumbled into his paper work.

“I think you do Liam. I think someone’s a little infatuated.”

“Shut up. No I’m not.”

“Really? Because your behaviour back there would say a lot different.”

Liam sighed deeply. He couldn’t fathom himself what had happened. All he saw was the new guy’s face and then all sense and coherence seemed to fade away. Did anyone else notice his eyes? Damn they were such a nice brown. Like caramel. Deep and rich.

“Hello? Earth to Liam? Fuck I can practically see the hearts in your eyes.” Louis taunted.

“Shut up.” Liam said again as he stood up and put his marked work away. Louis’ eyes followed him as he walked through the classroom.  
“Why’d you take your glasses off?” Louis said.

“Huh?”

“Your glasses. You took them off as soon as Zayn sat.” Liam shrugged.

“Dunno, hurting my eyes a bit.” Louis pursed his lips but said no more. He knew that if you pushed Liam, you’d generally end up not getting many answers and push him towards anger. And angry Liam was not something you wanted to see. It didn’t happen often, but when it did, it scared the shit out of Louis.

“Okay, well you better still come for a drink tonight.” Liam nodded. He seemed to be using a lot more gestures than words today.

“Good. See ya later Payno. Try not to kill yourself over coursework.” Louis laughed as he virtually skipped out the room. He could hear a distant “Merry christmas!” from him as students walked past. Liam shook his head to himself. He was sure glad he had Louis sometimes.


	2. Chapter 2

Liam placed his glasses on his face before sighing and removing them again. He stared at his reflection in his crappy car's rear-view mirror. Despite the fact he had worn glasses since the age of 14, he'd never got used to wearing them. He'd never liked wearing them. He thought they made his face look chubby and his eyes far too wide. It was only when he'd gotten to the age of 20 and the opticians told him he needed to wear them all the time that he admitted that he was extremely blind. He shook his head at himself in the mirror. He was sat in the pub car park and thinking about himself like a teenage girl conscious about her looks. On top of that, he was a babbling mess in front of a hot guy. He was seriously thinking he'd been spending too much time around teenage girls. He thought again to himself how that sounded extremely dodgy if people didn't understand he was a high school teacher. Liam put his glasses back on before stepping out of the car, slamming the door hard (the seal had broken months ago and Liam hadn't managed to get around to fixing it, so resorted to slamming it shut) and shoving his hands deep into his pockets as he made his way into the pub.

The pub wasn't of the best condition. As you entered the smell of stale beer and, what Liam came only describe as 'men', wafted into your nostrils and caused you to take a moment to get used to it. Terry, the pub landlord, was positioned behind the bar, pulling a pint for someone. He'd owned it for 10 years now when he moved to Birmingham, but he'd never done anything in the way of decoration. Not that the locals minded, as all they were looking for was a good pint, and once everyone got a few drinks in them the atmosphere seemed to pick itself up anyway.

"Liam!" Niall shouted, waving him over to his spot on the bar, a pint already in hand and another two next to him. 

"This one's for you. Louis' just nipped to the loo. I swear, bladder like a 6 year old." Niall said as he took a sip of his pint. Despite it being only 5.10pm, it was rather obvious Niall had already downed a few pints. He must've come straight after school. He would come here a lot by himself, spending his nights chatting to Terry if Liam or Louis couldn't make it out with him. Liam felt sorry for him sometimes. He was still young, only 26 years old, but he didn't seem to have many friends outside of Louis and Liam. Although Liam couldn't really talk, he only had Louis and Niall himself, and his dog Bruce of course. Not like he felt he needed anymore. It'd been that way for a while for him, and it suited him well.

Half an hour and two pints later, Zayn hadn't showed up. Liam felt calmed by this fact but at the same time ticked off. Why say you'll come if you don't bother to turn up?

Niall was playing with the dart board, tipsily singing along to the music blasting out from the juke box. It was currently on Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream", and Liam couldn't help but chuckle as he watched Niall throw his head back at the chorus before turning his attention back and concentrating on his darts. 

"I guess good looking isn't gonna make an appearance then." Louis said leaning in, taking a sip from his shandy.

"He has a name you know." Liam replied, his annoyed tone obvious in his voice.

"Yeah, but good looking sounds better because it riles you up." Louis laughed to himself before taking the last sip of his drink and calling Terry over for another.

Liam stared down his glass at the drink inside, his wavy disfigured features staring back up at him. Maybe it was a good thing he hadn't shown up. Not that he was hoping so badly that he would, at least to just make decent conversation this time. 

Just as Liam was ready to leave, Louis whistled to himself as he stared at the door. Liam turned around and his breath caught in his throat. Zayn casually sauntered in with his hair styled into a quiff which, quite honestly, was perfect. He still wore his black chinos and brown shoes and black shirt, but his black velvet blazer had been ditched for a leather jacket. He looked around nervously before spotting the two familiar faces at the bar and making his way over.

"Well fuck me, a bloody model just walked into our local." Louis mumbled under his breath as he turned to Liam and smiled slyly. Liam was too busy trying to calm his sudden onset of random nerves to pay attention to sassing back at Louis.

"Uh, hi." Zayn said, smiling while pursing his lips. His awkwardness was nearly as obvious as Liam's. He stood with his toes pointed in and his hands buried deep in his jacket pockets. It's a good thing Louis was a confident person because if he'd have been there and taken control that moment then Liam would've continued to  
sit there gawping.

"Take a stool Mr Malik. What can I get you?" Louis said as he pulled the stool out for him.

"Just a pint of Carling will do, cheers." Terry nodded to Zayn as he pulled the pint and added it to Louis' tab. 

"Excuse me lads, just gonna go take a pee." Louis virtually skipped away, purposely leaving a wide eyed Liam behind, alone with the one guy who managed to make him nervous ever since.... since before.

"So uh, Liam, right?" Zayn adjusted his pint sat on the bar nervously, not bothering to take a sip of it. 

"Yeah." Liam’s stomach flipped. Why did it flip? What the hell was wrong with him?

“So uh, what brought you to this part of the city?” Liam asked. That was good, normal conversation. Good good good.

Zayn lightly shrugged, a confused look upon his face. It was if he was trying to think himself of a reason why he’d come here.

“Fancied a change, and I saw an opening at the school and took the opportunity. Guess I’m now here.” Zayn finally took a sip of his drink, careful to not meet Liam in the eye. He didn’t elaborate on what he wanted a ‘change’ from, but before he could ask any more questions and most probably trip up on his own words, Louis made a reappearance.

“I bet you can’t beat me in darts.” Louis said to Zayn as he placed his hand on his shoulder, and Liam snorted into his drink.

“Something funny Payno?” Louis said, raising his eyebrows.

“Anyone could beat you at darts.” Liam scoffed as Louis punched him lightly on the arm.

Liam watched as a now tipsy Louis challenged Zayn, scowling whenever he missed the board (which was often), and scowling even more so whenever Zayn hit the target (which, again, was often). 

Every now and then Zayn would turn back to Liam, raising his eyebrows in a comedic way at Louis' reactions and Liam would laugh in return. Liam had watched Zayn turn into a relaxed man, feeling comfortable around the three guys he'd literally only just met that day. It was funny sometimes how quickly some people could just click.

"Hey babe." Zayn said as he leant across the bar and smiled at Liam. Liam laughed at the pet name.

"Well, we escalated quickly from 'it's Liam, right?'" Zayn laughed loudly at this, like it was the funniest thing he'd ever heard. Yup, he definitely had drank a lot. 

"Babe suits you. Just like your glasses." Liam was taken aback by this remark, despite the fact Zayn was drunk. He quickly took them off and wiped the lenses before pocketing them. Zayn just made a pouty face. Well, that's what Liam believed he did, everything in front of him had become extremely blurry.

He could feel his eyes drooping and his head becoming heavy. He really ought to leave before it got too late and he became too intoxicated to drive home... but he was having too much fun sitting from afar and watching his best friend get thrashed. Eventually though he realised he'd have to get home and feed Bruce. 

"I'll see you guys." Liam waved as Niall and Zayn propped themselves up against the pool table, laughing as Louis missed the target... again.

"No! Don't go!" Louis shouted, rushing over to Liam at the door. He leaned in closer, the smell of alcohol as clear as day in his breath. 

"Zayn is getting really fun, I think you'd enjoy it if you stayed." he slurred before leaning away and giggling like a school child. Maybe Louis spent too much time around the school girls too.

"No Louis, I have to go for Bruce. Merry Christmas!" Liam waved one last time. He stepped out into the cold winter air before he could be stopped again. 

 

"Hi Bruce!" Liam squeeled as an over-excited Alaskan Klee Kai puppy came bounding over to him. He wagged his tail aggressively as he nuzzled his nose against Liam's legs, desperate for a cuddle and his food. Bruce was too big a breed to be staying in his flat, but luckily his landlord had agreed he could stay as long as he didn't ruin any of the furniture. And he hadn't... apart from that one time he tore a cushion up, but Liam had replaced that extremely quickly before anyone could notice the trail of stuffing outside his flat door.

Liam put a bowl of food down and patted him on the head as he sat cross legged on the kitchen floor. 

"It's my holidays now buddy, so it's just you and me, for a solid 2 weeks. Sound good?" Bruce didn't look up from his food as Liam sat talking to him, not that Liam had expected any reaction. I mean it was 11.30pm on a Friday night, slightly drunk and sat on the kitchen floor, and he was talking to his dog. Liam shook his head before lifting himself up and walking the few feet to his bedroom. He kicked off his shoes and threw off his clothes until he was down to just his boxers and collapsed into bed. 

He tried to convince himself he wasn't going to be dreaming of the dark, mysterious new teacher, but it was hard to resist those deep brown eyes he held in his mind as he drifted off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Liam woke up at 8.30am to three missed phoned calls, all from Louis. 

"Louis, what the hell do you want." Liam started with an irritated tone, "I have missed calls from you at 2am. You didn't end up sleeping on the streets, did you?"

"That was one time," Louis grumbled. Liam could pretty much hear him whince from the other end of the phone. "And morning to you too sunshine. I wanted to tell you that I have something that may interest you very much." Liam could just hear the snideness (was that a word? probably not, but it needed to be made a word especially to describe Louis) in his voice. 

"What?" Liam moaned, not in the mood and definitely not awake enough for any teasing. 

"A Mr. Hottie's number." Liam's eyes widened at those few words. 

"Shut up." 

"I shall not. Would you like it?"

Liam covered the phone as he let out a laugh, before he suddenly had a thought.

"Wouldn't it be weird if I text him when he didn't give me his number?" 

"Not when he asked specifically for me to give it to you." Liam couldn't help but stare into space in disbelief. He couldn't have. No way would he. That was weird. They'd only known each other a day, not even that. They wouldn't be trading numbers already. Liam shook his head. He was over-reacting completely, again. He maybe just wanted to ask him questions about the school term, and try to seem social with the new teachers. As far as Liam could tell from last night's conversation, Zayn had no one but himself. 

"Send it to me now." Liam demanded and Louis hung up abruptly. He never did say goodbye. He was generally terrible at phone calls. 

Seconds later and a text came through:

"+447385720474, have fun texting your new baaaaabe ;) - Louis"

Liam quickly added it to his contacts, stared at it for a second before putting his phone down. He wouldn't do anything just yet. He would play it casual. Text him in a couple of days or something. Or hours.

His day consisted of eating cereal, walking Bruce, eating more cereal, watching TV, eating more cereal, and then finally deciding at 6.30pm to go food shopping as he'd ran out of milk for his cereal.

 

Liam pulled his jolty car up into Tesco's car park and dashed in, the cold air getting to his face quickly as all he had on was a hoodie and a pair of jogging bottoms. Once inside he grabbed a small trolley and made his way round.

Usually Liam would be tight on his food spending, but it was nearly Christmas so Liam splashed out on chocolate and sweets and savoury snacks for the evenings. His trolley was a mess of typical Christmas snacks that would hopefully keep him going for the next two weeks. If not, Liam would just make another trip before it closed for the holidays.

Liam made his way into the alcohol aisle and skimmed over the ciders. He wasn't much of a beer person but at Christmas they often brought out special drinks that Liam fancied a couple of every now and then in his holidays. He grabbed a few bottles before making his way to the tills.

His trolley was full of snacks, booze and a bag of dog food, which was the general way Liam's Christmas holidays generally went. At least, they had for the past three years when everything had changed. 

Liam was stacking his stuff onto the conveyer belt when it suddenly occurred to him who was in front. It was kinda hard not to recognise him when he had his quiff styled so perfectly and had that extremely sexy leather jacket on. Wait, did he just say sexy? Liam had never described someone as sexy before. Whatever, anyone was sexy compared to the state Liam was in currently; dishevelled hair from being unwashed and unstyled all day before being shoved under a hood, a delightful outfit of sweats with a slight milk stain on one of the legs, and bags under his eyes from his dreary day. Just swell. 

"Liam!" Zayn said as he turned around and acknowledged Liam's presence. Liam just stood in silence for a moment before he realised he was stood staring at him. 

"Oh, uh hi." he stuttered out. What was his problem with trying to talk normally to this guy? Shit. This was going shit.

"Thanks for, uh, last night. It was fun. Sorry if I embarrassed you though." Zayn said with a nervous laugh. Liam had flashbacks to Zayn drunkenly calling him babe before returning a smile.

"It was no problem, had fun myself." Liam continued to load stuff onto the conveyer belt as the cashier scanned Zayn's stuff through to not only get his shopping through but to keep his eye contact away from Zayn's... and hide his shaking hands. 

"Did Louis pass my number onto you?" Zayn asked and Liam looked up sharply.

"Uh, yeah he did. Sorry, meant to text you to give you my number." Liam lied. Zayn nodded in response. He seemed to go say something but then stopped himself, changing his mind quickly.

"Well, I'll see you round babe." Zayn said as the last of his items went through and Liam waved shakily as he made his way out of the Tesco. He called him babe again. And this time he was sober. Babe. The actual word babe. B. A. B. E. Liam collapsed at the other end of the till, resting his head on his trolley.

"Are you okay, sir?" the young girl on the till asked as she swiped through a box of chocolates. Liam looked up and smiled while pursing his lips. 

"Fine. Absolutely perfect." Liam replied before proceeding to pack his bags.

Liam spent his drive home thinking about Zayn and the fact he must live nearby and how he called him fucking babe and how the fuck he was gonna sort out his mess of a life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's short lmao but it's better that way for regular updates. Also, that number I included was in no intentional of being real but if it happens to be someone's number then my bad. Enjoy !


	4. Chapter 4

Christmas Day

"Merry Christmas lad! Have a great day, drink lots of beer! - Niall"

"Meeeeeeerry christmaaaaaaasss smelly. Missing you, sisters driving me nuts - Louis x"

"Merry christmas ;) - Zayn" 

Liam smiled at his phone. It was 1.20pm and he'd just woken up. He liked that part of the day, waking up to Christmas texts, and the additional one from Zayn (with a winky face, may he add) made it that little bit better. The rest of the day sucked though. 

Liam's Christmas consisted of him walking Bruce to the local park past all the couples and families together, and then sat at home watching Christmas TV specials before ordering a Chinese at around 9pm (the local one was always open on Christian holidays seeing as they didn't celebrate that). 

He was just about to ring and order a Chinese when his phone proceeded to ring. Liam glanced at the caller ID and froze. Zayn. 

He gave himself a few more seconds before answering.

"Hi." Liam said, trying to control the nerves in his voice. 

"Hey!" Zayn chirped on the other end. There was an edge to it though that Liam couldn't detect what it meant. I mean, he'd only met the guy three times in total, so it's not like he really knew him well enough to know if something was up. 

"So, uh, merry Christmas." Zayn said. 

"Merry Christmas to you too." Liam replied. For a moment there was an awkward silence of light breathing and the sense that neither had no idea what to say. Did Liam try and make conversation, or would he wait for Zayn to continue talking and explain why he was phoning up at 8.23pm on Christmas Day? Before he could talk and possibly blurt out something he’d massively regret, Zayn started to speak.

“So, uh, Louis told me you were spending the day alone.” Liam tried to restrain the urge to shout “fucker” down the phone. Why would Louis tell Zayn that? I mean, yeah, it was a true statement (if you didn’t count his dog) but there was no need to go telling everyone. Especially Zayn. He just sounded like a complete loser now. Brilliant. Absolutely great.

“Well, uh, yeah.” Liam coughed out. There was no avoiding it now. It was out there. 

“Ah, because same.” Liam’s eyes widened. Was Zayn spending the day alone too? Nah, he couldn’t be. Someone that attractive and smart couldn’t be alone on Christmas Day.

"You're not really, are you?" Liam bravely asked, expecting a harsh laugh and a "of course not" in reply. But there was a moment of silence before Zayn replied again. 

"Yeah, I'm sat at home watching a re-run of Friends. I hate Christmas TV specials." Liam laughed and shook his head to himself, finding it hard to interpret the fact that Zayn Malik was alone on Christmas Day. 

"So, Mr Malik, how can I help you on this fine winter's day?" Liam asked, suddenly building confidence in his words. It seemed talking over the phone to Zayn was a lot easier than talking face to face, most probably because Liam couldn't get distracted by his scruffy stubble or deeply entrancing brown eyes. They made Liam feel like he had shit coloured eyes. 

"Okay, I'm just gonna throw this out there but, uh, would you mind if we hung out?" Liam could hear the nerves in Zayn's voice, and he'd never felt so close to giggling like a little school girl. He honestly spent way too much time at his school around the students. 

"That'd be cool." Liam said cooly, trying to resist the urge to scream "YES PLEASE COME ROUND MINE I'VE BEEN ALONE FOR YEARS."

"I was actually about to order a Chinese if you fancied coming over and having some too?" Liam clenched his teeth as he waited for Zayn's reply. 

"Sounds awesome, fucking love Chinese." Zayn laughed and this time Liam did let out a little laugh. 

"Okay, well uh, I'll text you my address and you text me your Chinese order and hopefully the food will arrive the same time as you." Liam smiled widely down the phone, suddenly glad that you couldn't actually see each other's faces over a phone call. 

"Cool, will be there asap. Bye." Zayn said before hanging the phone up before Liam even had a chance to say "bye" back. 

Liam text Zayn the details and ordered the Chinese before he had a glance around his flat, and it dawned on him how much like a pit it looked. There were (several) dirty dishes piled up in the sink, the bin was full and brimming over, his washing pile sat in front of the washing machine not having made it any further, and muddy footprints by the door from Bruce earlier on. Great. What a brilliant impression that would set. 

Liam quickly set to work tidying the flat, shoving dishes in the dish washer and clothes into the washing machine. Bruce sat with his head cocked to the side and what could only be interpreted as a confused look on the dog's face. 

"Don't give me that look." Liam sighed as Bruce sat staring up at Liam. He remained still but continued to wag his tail against the floor. Liam shook his head before sitting down in front of Bruce and ruffling his fur.

"You see Bruce, the reason Liam looks like such a hot-headed mess right now is because he actually has a guy coming over, other than Louis and Niall, and he actually feels... something." Liam sighed and leant back, staring up at his ceiling. He couldn't explain what he felt when he looked at Zayn. It was like a gut-wrenching feeling that twisted at his insides and his heart... but he liked it. It was a strange pain that left him feeling winded and confused. He'd felt something like this before, not quite so strong though, and quite a few years ago. Liam didn't realise he would ever feel that way again. And now that he was feeling that way, he was scared. Extremely terrified. 

A knock at the door pulled Liam out of his thoughts and Liam stumbled to the door and collected himself before opening it. 

"Hi." Zayn announced, hand behind his head rubbing the back of his neck. Liam smiled and held the door open for him to come in.

Within seconds Bruce came bounding into the kitchen, throwing himself up at Zayn. Zayn stumbled back a bit and laughed as the dog proceeded to run laps around him.

"Down boy! Stop! I'm sorry, he gets excited when guests come over." Liam said, leaving off "which is rarely ever".

"It's fine, I like dogs. What breed is he?" Zayn asked, smiling as he ruffled his ears. Zayn was asking about Liam's dog. Liam's dog was licking Zayn's face. His dog. Liam shook himself out of his daydream as he realised Zayn had asked him a question.

"Oh uh, Alaskan Klee Kai." Zayn raised his eyebrows as he obviously had never heard of the breed before.

"I wanted a husky but my landlord would've flipped, so I settled for a smaller breed that looked like a husky." Zayn nodded in understanding before standing up and brushing off the dog hairs from his black jeans.

"So, this is your flat?" Zayn asked as he walked around, looking through the doorways of the kitchen. It was more of a studio flat, but with furniture strategically placed by Liam (and, admittedly, his dad who had helped him when he moved in) it created walls, as such.

"Yeah, it's not much, but I like it." Liam voiced, ruffling Bruce's ears himself before heading to the fridge.

"Would you like a beer? I mean or, uh, a drink if you want. Chinese will be here in a minute." Liam said as he pulled out a can from the bottom drawer. Zayn casually waved his hand for Liam to decide himself, so he pulled out two cans.

Zayn took the can gratefully with a smile. There seemed to be an air of awkwardness as the two tried to think of conversation, when they were interrupted by a buzz at the door.

"Chinese!" Liam exclaimed, perhaps a little too enthusiastically. If Zayn had seemed to give him a strange sideways look, Liam had ignored it as he made his way to the door. 

He opened the door, paid the man and brought the bags through to the living space, placing them on the table. 

"Just, uh, help yourself." Liam said, gesturing to the bags. If Liam had a pound for everytime he said uh or um during a sentence he'd be rich by now. Zayn shrugged his jacket off, revealing a loose tank top. Holy fuck. One, it was the middle of winter, who wears tank tops in winter? Two, Liam didn't give a fuck because his toned arms were adorned in tattoos. Holy shit.

Zayn hung his jacket by the door and Liam tried all he could to take his eyes off his arms, but he couldn't. The tattoos were all too endearing. Fucking hell, there wasn't a single flaw to this guy.

Zayn couldn't help but notice Liam's half stare and looked down at his arms, smiling to himself.

"I never planned on a sleeve," Zayn explained without being asked, "I just collected more and more until, well, it was a sleeve." Liam smiled, oblivious to how stupid the child like grin possibly looked.

"They're amazing." Liam said. Zayn chuckled.

"Thanks." 

The evening proceeded with eating of Chinese food and Christmas puddings before flicking through TV channels and settling on a repeat of Home Alone 2. 

"I think I've seen this film a total of 102 times." Liam said as Zayn laughed at "Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal."

"What makes you say that?" Zayn asked, turning his attention away from the TV to look at Liam. Liam had had a few beers already and the alcohol was staring to set in, making Liam feel slightly more confident when Zayn turned to face him.

"Well I've probably watched this three times every Christmas, and I'm 34 years old, so that's at least 102 times." Liam calculated in his head. Zayn just laughed and shook his head.

"I'm pretty sure the film hasn't been out for 32 years." Zayn laughed, a smirk on his face as Liam's face turned into an "oh" expression. 

"Well, whatever. I've seen this film a lot." 

Liam's anxiety around Zayn seemed to completely diminish as the night continued, and at around 2am noticed Zayn's head had fallen onto the arm of the sofa, a light snoring coming from his mouth as his legs were tucked up on the sofa. Liam softly smiled to himself, admiring the moment that only he knew was happening right then. He grabbed a blanket from his bed and tucked Zayn up, propping him down a little so that he wouldn't wake with a crook in his neck. He crept out of the living room and into his bedroom, avoiding waking up Zayn. 

Liam laid there in his bed for a few moments as he thought the night through, and he'd come to the conclusion that that was the best Christmas he'd had in quite a few years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> APOLOGIES FOR LATE UPDATE! I have mock exams and coursework due dates pop up out of nowhere and suddenly I managed to forget about you lovely people, I'm so sorry! I hope you enjoy this chapter and I'll try and get chapter 5 up for next week! :D


	5. Chapter 5

First day of term. Liam rested his head on his steering wheel, sighing deeply as he stared up at the gloomy school building looming over him. They had re-painted the whole building, but that was a good 10 years ago they did that, and the paint had faded and started to peel away, leaving massive patches of old orange paint and new (not quite so red anymore) paint. 

Liam's little day dream was disturbed by a tap on his car window which did possibly make him jump and bash his head against the horn on the steering wheel. He looked up to see a smug faced Louis Tomlinson stood on the other side of the door. Liam took his keys out of the ignition and stepped out of the car to be greeted with a "morning twat." 

"Charming." Liam replied, used to Louis' insulting love. It was a strange concept that Liam couldn't quite comprehend in the first few weeks of knowing Louis, but he came to learn that if Louis insulted you, it most probably meant he liked you. 

"So, how was your Christmas?" Liam asked as they walked into the building past screaming school kids. 

"So so. You know, family, food, films." Louis replied, shrugging his shoulders. Liam did know, or at least had known at some point. Louis didn't like to elaborate on his Christmas because, it wasn't as such as making Liam jealous, but he thought it just reminded Liam a little more how alone he in fact was, and Louis hated seeing those puppy dog eyes that Liam was so good at using. Fuck they killed whenever he had them; it's a good thing that it had been a while since the last  
time Louis saw them.

"Louis," Liam started, but then suddenly regretted what he was about to ask and backed out. 

"What?" Louis questioned, raising his eyebrows as they passed a young couple making out by the lockers who had obviously rather missed each other over Christmas break. At least, that's what they could tell from the way he was virtually snogging her face off. Usually Louis would interrupt with some witty comment that would embarrass the two of them but he thought he'd let them off today.

"Don't worry." Liam said, being immediately met with that same raised eyebrow look again from Louis.

"'Don't worry' he says. Dude, I'm going  
to worry if you don't say what you were gonna say. Spit it out." Louis demanded, dropping his books onto his desk as Liam followed in tow. 

"Why did you tell Zayn I was spending Christmas alone?" Liam said finally. Louis froze as he was putting stuff into his drawers, and sighed slightly.

"I'm so sorry Liam-" Louis started but Liam waved him off. 

"Don't be sorry, I- uh, thank you." 

"Thank you?" Louis repeated, sitting on the edge of his desk and looking down at Liam.  
Liam suddenly felt very much in the position of a student being told off by a teacher.

"Uh yeah, thanks. Well, I better get going. Set up my classroom and what not. I'll see you later." Liam said as he left the classroom before Louis shot him with anymore questions. Liam knew Louis was going to try and squeal out of him what he'd meant, because Louis always got his way, no matter how adamant Liam made himself. But right now he wanted to avoid awkward questions.

 

"Morning." Zayn smiled as Liam virtually walked into him, managing to catch his coffee before he spilt any down his shirt. Zayn just chuckled.

“Close one.” Liam said as he shook his head.

“106 times.” Zayn said, leaving Liam confused.

“Uh, what?” Liam asked, unable to read Zayn’s facial expression.

“Home Alone 2. I’ve seen it probably 106 times. Turns out it came out in 1992, and I was born in 1993.” Liam laughed, unable to believe that Zayn had actually researched this.

“So I was right?” Liam smiled, watching the slight annoyance rise in Zayn.

“Yes.” Zayn sighed, shaking his head at Liam.

“You owe me an apology then.” Liam said, attempting to cross his arms but then remembering the coffee in his hand.

“Fuck off.” Zayn chuckled, a student passing by widening his regs in surprise at the teacher’s profound language. Zayn’s eyes widened too as he remembered where he was and Liam laughed lowly.

“I guess I’ll just have to wait for it.” Liam said as he continued to walk to his classroom. That’s it, keep walking, before you shove your foot in your mouth, he thought to himself. He was doing really well conversation wise and wasn’t going to let himself down now.

 

The day proceeded with classes rushing in and out of Liam’s classroom, him drearily explaining the tasks of the day as the dull January weather reflected that of Liam’s mood. He always hated the first day back at school, and felt that he resembled a young teenage lad still in some ways. If only he could be wrapped up in his bed covers right now.

The lunch bell sounded and Liam let his class leave in an excited rush for the canteen. Liam despised having a lesson just before lunch because it usually meant there wouldn’t be a space for him to sit at in the canteen as Louis had the same timetabling and they weren’t able to grab one before the ravaging students descended on the canteen. Sometimes they could rely on Niall, but very rarely did he make his way into the canteen until a lot later. 

As if on cue to Liam’s thoughts, Louis sauntered into his classroom, propping himself on one of the wooden stools.

“Thank you?” Louis questioned as Liam bustled about his classroom, making sure the machinery was correctly turned off and cleaned. Why was everyone starting sentences today with nothing that made sense?

“I don’t understand.” Liam said, not turning his back around.

“You said thank you for telling Zayn you were alone this Christmas. Why?” Louis said, leaning back against the desk with his arms crossed.

“Don’t you have marking to do?” Liam said. Louis did usually spend his first day back at school after half term finishing off marking that he meant to do in the holidays. 

“Not until I get answers.” Louis demanded, and Liam knew he was being very serious. Liam sat down on a stool himself opposite Louis and pursed his lips as he tried to gather his thoughts.

“Zayn spent Christmas at mine.” Liam finally said. Louis’ response was a mixture of shock and delight, as his face turned into a large expression of both.

“No fucking way.”

“Way.”

“Wait, so how did this happen?” Louis asked excitedly, standing up and pacing the desks. Liam explained the events of the night, from answering the door to tucking him into the sofa.

“Did you make him a scrummy boxing day breakfast the next day and give him a morning kiss on the head to wake him?” Louis teased, and Liam punched him lightly on the arm.

“Uh, no, he left before I woke up.”

“Shit.” Louis said, sitting down once again.

“Yeah. I padded into the living room and the Chinese was cleared away into the carrier bag, the blanket folded up neatly, and Zayn nowhere to be seen.” Liam explained as he stared down at his feet, lightly tapping the table legs with his toes.

“Awh man that sucks, I’m sorry.” Louis said, resting his hand on Liam’s shoulder. See, Louis did have a compassionate side, but generally he chose to use his sarcastic charm more than anything.

“I’m fine, don’t worry. That was actually one of the best Christmas’ I've had since…” Liam stopped himself, Louis understanding what he meant by “since”.

“Dude, I’m happy for you. Why didn’t you text me though like an excited teen the next day telling me all of this?” Louis asked, and Liam shrugged his shoulders.

“Because it’s been awhile since I felt like this.” Liam admitted, and Louis smiled with sad eyes, remembering that time all those years ago that Liam had felt this way before. Before everything turned to shit. Louis felt scared for Liam though, knowing that this was dangerous territory for him. He kept his mouth shut though, not wanting to pass his fears onto Liam. Little did Louis know though, Liam was shit scared already.

“Right, Mr Payne, I’m going to grab some chips, how about you?” Louis announced as he stood.

“I thought the chips were a no-go for Mr Tomlinson?” Liam asked.

“Dude, Christmas has been and gone. Bring on the grease and fat.” Louis laughed as he made his way out of the classroom with Liam following.

And so Liam’s day carried on with him trying to calm and teach hyperactive children still full of sugary sweet energy from Christmas, refraining from bashing his head against his desk whenever a student asked him the same question for the fourth time.

Soon it was 3pm and Liam was quickly making his way to his crappy car, determined to get home and curl up in bed with Bruce. 

Liam was about to unlock his car, key in door, when a shout of his name made him stop and turn around. Sure enough, there was Zayn Malik, jogging towards him, adorned with leather jacket, of course. Liam had to restrain himself from tearing the leather jacket off him. It was a crime to wear that, he was pretty sure of it. 

"Hey! Sorry, meant to catch you earlier but first proper day of teaching and all." Zayn huffed as he leant against Liam's car, catching his breath. Fuck, Liam had forgot this was his first official day on the job, and he hadn't gone to see him or anything. There was a guilty feeling in his chest as he hadn't even gone to wish Zayn luck on his first day.

"Ah man it's cool. I was busy myself." Liam lied. In all honesty, he'd been too scared to talk to Zayn.

"I just wanted to say... thanks for Christmas. That was, uh, cool." Zayn said, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. Man, he had a habit of doing that, not that Liam was complaining or anything. Liam could detect a nervousness to Zayn's voice, and it made him want to smile, laugh even. Zayn Malik was nervous around him. Amazing. Liam restrained a laugh enough to reply.

"You're more than welcome. It was a nice evening. Beat watching Home Alone 2... home alone." Liam chuckled, leaning against his car himself, straightening himself up again when he un-smoothly bashed his hip against the key in the car door. Liam detected a small smile from Zayn and Liam felt his cheeks redden. Fucking hell, what was wrong with him? It was official, Liam was a teenage girl. He needed to get his head checked out or something. Or maybe his parts down under.

"Well, thank you anyway. We'll have to do it again sometime or something. See you around Payno." Zayn said as he walked away with a wink. A wink. What on Earth? 

Liam sat in his drivers seat and stared out the windscreen for a moment. Zayn Malik had winked at him. Winked. Just like in the text, but, like, for real. Yup, this little facilitation with the new English teacher was sure to be the death of him.


	6. Chapter 6

Zayn and Louis walked down one of the school corridors together as they made their way to the library; Louis usually avoided the library as it had a strange damp smell down the long corridors that he'd never been able to detect where it came from, and was often full of kids searching for somewhere to eat their lunch other than the canteen. But Zayn had asked where the library was, and as stubborn as Louis could be, he decided to take Zayn there seeing as he was new and Liam had abandoned Louis to carry out lunch time detentions and Niall taught guitar lessons.

"Welcome to the cave of cretinous children who probably don't even know what a book is." Louis mumbled as they entered the library, waving his hand towards the young group of students who sat round a table playing crappy rap music out loud. Zayn raised his eyebrows and chuckled. 

"I'll look over in Drama for a bit while you have a recky around the English department. Might as well have a scavenge on scripts for this year's play." Louis said as Zayn nodded his agreement and sauntered over to the other side of the library.

Louis casually flicked through a section of Shakespeare, dismissing the copies of Romeo and Juliet as due to media and movies it had become very mainstream, and Louis didn't fancy putting a girl and a boy on stage in a typical love play with the students this year. He liked gore and action, and although there were fight scenes in Romeo and Juliet, he much preferred the idea of Macbeth. Louis pushed the scripts aside, flicking through the older copies on the other side when he suddenly became aware of a pair of green eyes peeping through on the other side of the bookshelf.

Louis stumbled back, surprised by the eyes suddenly looking at him, and bashed into the shelf behind, managing to knock his elbow and having to stop himself from shouting any swear words as books tumbled to the floor and his elbow started to throb with pain.

"Oh god, I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to alarm you!" the green eyed man said as he came around the other side of the shelf to come face to face with Louis. He was tall, slender, his long hair styled back but becoming loose out of it's style as the day had gone on. He wore a white shirt underneath a green jumper along with brown chinos and smart dress shoes. Louis had never seen him before.

"It's uh, it's cool man. Um, were you watching me?" Louis asked as he rubbed his sore elbow. The young man looked taken aback at Louis' question.

"What? Oh, no, no! I was just wondering who was poking about in the Shakespeare section as I haven't seen anyone actually... looking at books yet, as such." he replied, looking shocked at the thought of Louis being offended by his presence. He seemed almost skatty in his words, and Louis shook his head and smiled.

"It's because children here seem to be un-educated in literature despite me trying my best to encourage them into the great art of skilled writing." Louis sighed, before remembering he was talking to a complete stranger.

"I'm sorry, I don't recall you. Are you new?" Louis asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the bookshelf. 

"Yeah, started today. New librarian. Name's Harry. Harry Styles." Harry said, holding his hand out.

"Tomlinson, Louis Tomlinson." Louis replied as he took Harry's hand in his own and shook it. The size difference in hands was quite obvious and Louis suppressed a laugh as he observed how Harry's hand totally encompassed his. 

"So, uh, Mr Tomlinson, what are you doing poking about in Shakespeare?" Harry asked, picking up the books that Louis had knocked off. Louis stood awkwardly, forgetting he had dropped the books and suddenly feeling bad for not picking them up himself.

"Oh, I'm the drama teacher, I was, uh, looking for a script to work off for this year's play that the students put on." Louis replied, picking up one book near his foot to seem less like a stubborn asshole (even if he knew deep down he kinda was).

"I love Shakespeare. Macbeth is my favourite." Harry replied as he rearranged the books, and Louis smiled wide.

"Same! 'Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand?'" Louis quoted as he mimed out a knife in his hand, gesturing wildly. Harry chuckled at Louis as he acted one of the scenes. 

"I guess you do like drama then." Harry laughed as he readjusted his jumper and shirt. Louis crossed his arms back over and nodded.

"Always have done since I was at high school. It's just... a passion, you know what I mean?" Louis replied, suddenly feeling stupid for saying the word passion. But Harry's keen green eyes seemed to reassure Louis in his words as Harry nodded in agreement and understanding.

Just then Louis felt a tap on his back and found Zayn stood behind him, a couple books in his hands. 

"Booked these out. Are you sorted?" he asked, looking between Louis and the curiously long haired teacher stood next to him. 

"Uh, yeah. I'll see you around Styles." Louis said as he gave a quick wave and led Zayn out of the library, leaving behind a stunned looking Harry Styles with a grin bigger than the Chester Cat on his face.

"Who was that?" Zayn asked as they made their way back down the damp-smelling corridor.

"Who?" Louis said as he noted in his mind the awfully loud tap-tap noises their shoes made on this floor.

"The guy with the weird jumper that you were talking to." Zayn said as he casually looked down at the book in his hand. Louis seemed almost offended by the fact Zayn had called Harry's jumper ugly, despite it being absolutely in no aimed at him or his dress sense. Louis shook his head of his thoughts before making a reply.

"Harry Styles, the librarian. He's nice." Louis answered coolly.

"You don't have any scripts." Zayn noticed as he looked down at Louis' bare hands, and Louis suddenly remembered what he went into the library for as well.

"Ah, yeah, nevermind. I'll just go back another time." Louis answered eagerly, already planning in his head his next visit to the library to see the tall, awkward, young man with a cheeky grin. Okay, so maybe the corridors did smell, and Louis did have a slight distaste for the students that gathered there, but he was pretty sure he could brave another trek there just to see Harry whose awkwardness seemed ever so slightly enticing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short and sweet chapter, hope you guys don't mind a Larry storyline as well, let me know though if you don't want Larry or do want it! I'll make less of a story of it if people are looking just for Ziam :D


	7. Chapter 7

The first week back passed by quickly with marked work being handed in and coursework being completed. Liam was walking towards Louis' classroom at 4.30pm on Friday, once all the students had virtually cleared the building, as he hadn't seen him all day and was gonna have a chinwag, when he stopped outside the door, listening. He could hear noises from inside... sniffling noises. Liam furrowed his eyebrows. Did Louis have an upset student in there? Should he leave him to talk to them? Liam stepped into the classroom anyway to find out.

To his surprise was no student, but a disheveled Louis sat at his desk, head in his hands. There was no hiding the fact that the sniffling was coming from Louis, and Liam just caught the sight of rosy red cheeks covered in tears.

"Louis?" Liam whispered quietly, not wanting to surprise him. Louis' head shot up; his eyes were bloodshot and red, his hair dishevelled from where he'd been running his hands through it and he looked beyond exhausted.

"Fuck." Louis muttered as he rubbed at his eyes and attempted to fix his hair, with little results. 

"What's up man?" Liam asked, walking round to the other side of his desk and sitting beside him. Louis just looked down and shook his head. He seemed too tired to even explain.

Liam went back to his bag briefly and brought over a tissue and offered it to Louis to help him. Louis took it gratefully and dabbed at his nose. 

"Louis, you're breaking my heart. What's happened?" Liam said, placing his hand on Louis' knee. He meant nothing by it, only that he wanted to offer him comfort, because right now personal boundaries didn't matter when his best friend was sat next to him in tears.

Louis eventually sighed before mumbling "It's Michelle." Liam sat back and raised his eyebrows, confused.

"Your wife? Is she okay? Has something happened to her?" Liam questioned, his voice evidentially conveying a concerned tone.

"Oh yeah, she's fine. Brilliant actually. I mean, what would make you happier than deceiving your husband to go and sleep with another man." Louis spat out. Liam sat in shock, not believing the words that had just fallen from Louis' mouth.

"You mean she..." Liam started, clenching his fists in anger, but still trying to keep a calm voice because one of them had be reassuring somehow. 

"She cheated on me Liam." Louis bawled out, collapsing into Liam's arms as he couldn't control the tears falling down his red flushed cheeks. Liam held him close to his chest, rubbing his arm comfortingly as he rocked him ever so gently. Louis was a fragile little thing at times and although he liked to cover that with a front of sarcasm and banter, he took things to heart easily and this had obviously pushed him over his edge. So far over that edge Liam was worried if he'd ever be back at the top again.

They stayed like that for a while, Louis propped against Liam as he held him close and gently soothed him. Liam had no words at this moment in time, only the power to hold him tight and hope that would fix him. But Liam knew better.

After what seemed like an age, Louis sat up and wiped his eyes and nose with the tissue Liam had given him earlier. He smiled weakly at Liam.

"Thank you." he croaked, his throat sore from the crying.

"Dude, what are friends for." Liam replied, giving his shoulder a tight reassuring squeeze. Louis just nodded.

"Here, I'll drive you ho-" Liam started to say, then realising that he couldn't do that. Louis couldn't go home. Michelle would be there.

"I'll drive you to my house." Liam corrected himself as he stood and pulled Louis up. He picked up Louis' bag and threw his own over his shoulder, and while holding his arm led him out to his car.

The car ride to Liam's flat had been rather silent, Louis sniffling quietly as Liam kept the radio on a low volume. He wanted to talk but he just didn't know what to say; didn't want to put his foot in his mouth like he always does.

Once at his flat he carried Louis' bag and opened his door to an excited dog jumping around excitedly as he sniffed at the Louis' legs. 

"Hey Bruce." Louis laughed as he bent down to rub at his ears before he went running away into the other parts of the flat.

"Fancy takeaway?" Liam asked as he opened the fridge and help a can of beer out to Louis. Louis shook his head though and furrowed his eyebrows as he thought to himself before speaking.

"I think, I'd like to sleep. Just for a bit. A nap." Louis stuttered. Louis had been to Liam's flat numerous of times over the years, treated it as his own even at times, but right now the reasonings as to why he was here completely changed his behaviour.

"Sure thing lad, let me get a spare pair of joggers for you. You know where the spare bedroom is." Liam said as he went into his room and grabbed the smallest pair of jogging bottoms out of one of his drawers. They'd shrunk in the wash months ago but he always kept him, because he knew there'd be one point in his life where Louis would use them. Be it when he had a New Year's party at his flat like those few years before, and Louis had managed to throw up all down himself, or for a moment like now.

He found Louis in the spare room, perched on the edge of the bed, crying again. Liam sighed, trying not to make it too evident how much his best friend was breaking his heart right now. And how much he wanted to beat the shit out of Michelle for making Louis feel this way.

Liam sat beside him and without a word held Louis' shoulders as he silently sobbed into Liam's chest, his tiny body shaking against Liam's. Liam rubbed his arm up and down and how he remembers his mother calming him as a child gently shushing him until the shaking ceased and Liam could feel his breathing calm down.

"It'll be okay." Liam whispered as Louis pulled back to wipe his nose. Louis didn't respond, and Liam didn't blame him. 

"Yeah." Louis replied, although his cracked voice told him totally different. Liam handed Louis the joggers before standing to leave the room, smiling gently as he pulled the door to and left his best friend to sort himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for long time waiting for an update! I wanted to fully concentrate on colleges until my exams were over and hurrah they're complete! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, remember to tweet me @flowercrownliam and don't forget to share :D x


	8. Chapter 8

The sun shone bright through the closed curtains, casting muted warm tones of red against the bed sheets that seemed to radiate in the room. 

"Alright, I'm up. I'm up." Liam grumbled as he rubbed at his eyes and pushed away a hyperactive dog that tried to lick his face. Liam stroked his head as he stood up from his bed and stretched, making yawning noises resembling a Chewbacca, before padding into the living room in just his boxer shorts. 

Liam could hear the TV on in the living room and felt confused. He was sure he turned it off last night before going to sleep. He edged into the room slowly before remembering Louis had spent the night and realising he was tucked up on the sofa in his duvet, staring at Jeremy Kyle. 

"Morning." Liam grumbled, ruffling Louis' hair as he stood behind him. Louis flinched slightly, surprised by Liam's sudden presence. 

"Sorry." Liam stuttered as he headed back into the kitchen. He opened his cupboards and fridge and searched around for some breakfast. All he could summon was a box of weetabix and a peach yoghurt that he was pretty certain was out of date and if you opened the lid probably had green mould growing on it. He sighed to himself as he shut the fridge door.

"All I have is weetabix and I know you hate that." Liam said as he walked back over to Louis. Although he couldn't see his face, he was pretty sure he was making a distasteful look. Or the dead eyed look he had last night. 

"It's okay. I'm not hungry." Louis replied. His voice was croaky and dry, like he'd been crying again last night. 

"Well you need to eat. No excuses. I'll pop to the Tesco and get some bacon and eggs and rolls. Sound good?" Liam said, placing a hand on his shoulder and lightly gripping it. Louis turned his head round and smiled at Liam.

"Sounds great." Louis said and Liam grabbed a pair of shoes and his wallet as he made his way out the door.

"Liam-", Louis shouted, Liam halting in the door to turn around, "thank you." Liam smiled and shook his head as he shut the door behind him.

\---------

Liam tiredly walked through the fridge section of Tesco, picking up bacon and then heading for the milk. He stopped in his tracks though, staring at the figure stood at the end of the aisle inspecting a carton of milk. If Liam hadn't been mistaken, Zayn Malik stood right at the end and was turning to walk straight toward him.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck..." Liam muttered under his breath, panicking as he realised it was too late to turn back down the other aisle.

"Liam!" Zayn smiled as he recognised him, and Liam in a panic stricken mode smiled back.

"Heyyyy..." he said, dragging out the word as he had no idea what to say. Here he stood, in jogging bottoms he'd slept in and messy bed hair that surely looked like a bird was nesting in it. Yup, it surely was Liam's destiny to always find a perfect looking Zayn Malik in his local Tesco's while looking like something someone had scraped off the bottom of their shoe. Brilliant. 

"Breakfast?" Zayn asked, pointing to the packet of bacon and rolls in Liam's basket. He was yet to get eggs. 

"Uh, oh yeah, Louis stayed over." Liam said before he could stop himself. Was he meant to be telling people that? Oh well, this was only Zayn, he probably didn't have anyone else to tell. 

"Sounds, uh, cool," Zayn said as he seemed to go to say something else but then decided not to, "Hey, it seems we meet in here more than we do at actual school. When are you ever gonna make the trip over to my classroom?" Zayn teased, lightly tapping Liam's arm. Fuck, did he just do that? Liam shook his head as he laughed, trying to hide his nerves as he rubbed at the back of his neck.

"Oh, yeah, I just, you know, busy with marking and all, you know how it is." Liam stuttered as he tried to come up with excuses. Really, he'd been avoiding him. Not because he didn't like him or anything, but because he did really like him. And that was exactly why he was avoiding him.

"Yeah, fair enough. Well I'll best be off, enjoy your breakfast date with Tommo." Zayn said and with a smile made his way down to the tills.

Liam breathed out once he'd left the aisle, not realising he'd been holding his breath in. He wished with all his might that he could right now just go shove his head into one of the freezers and stay there for eternity. Instead, he picked up a box of eggs before proceeding to walk to the tills himself (but once he was sure that Zayn was clear of them and had left the store).

**Author's Note:**

> feel free to tweet me at @flowercrownliam
> 
> massive thanks to Sarah (@imindenialler on Twitter) for being an amazing friend who has helped me so much with this fanfic, and thank you for being generally perfect. I don't know what I'd do without you. 
> 
> thanks for reading, have a great day!


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